Comments by Mao Zedong on Li Xiannian’s [1] concluding remarks at the National Conference on Non-Staple Food Production in Large and Medium-Sized Cities and on his report to the Central Committee (November 30, 1959) This document [2] is very good.
Please circulate it for all comrades to read.
It is recommended that it be forwarded to party organizations at all levels for study and implementation.
Mao Zedong Date Based on the manuscript.
Li Xiannian was at that time a member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, deputy head of the Central Financial Leading Group, Vice Premier of the State Council and Director of the Office for Finance and Trade, as well as Minister of Finance. [2] Refers to Li Xiannian’s concluding remarks delivered on November 21, 1959, at the Second National Conference on Non-Staple Food Production in Large and Medium-Sized Cities, and his report dated November 25 to Mao Zedong and the Central Committee concerning the proceedings of that conference.
The main points of the concluding address were as follows: (1) Over the past year, significant achievements have been made in non-staple food production in major cities across the country, with vegetable production now largely self-sufficient. (2) In the future, non-staple food production should continue to follow the principle of “developing both urban and rural areas simultaneously.”
Large and medium-sized cities should persist in implementing the policy of “self-reliance as the primary approach, supplemented by external assistance.” (3) Great efforts should be made to expand livestock production, with pig farming as the central focus. (4) Vegetable production must not be neglected in the slightest. (5) All localities are urged to vigorously increase oilseed production and broadly diversify their economic activities.

(6) Party leadership must be further strengthened, and mass movements should be vigorously promoted. (7) The vast countryside should also intensify its production of non-staple foods and develop animal husbandry to provide active support to urban areas.
In his report to Mao Zedong and the Central Committee, Li Xiannian stated that the conference had reviewed the extent to which various regions had implemented the Central Committee’s policy of “self-reliance as the primary approach, supplemented by external assistance” for non-staple food production in large and medium-sized cities.
The conference set forth the following tasks for future non-staple food production: “Building on the current near self-sufficiency in vegetables, we must further consolidate, improve, and appropriately expand vegetable production; vigorously develop livestock production centered on pig farming, aiming to achieve basic self-sufficiency in meat and eggs within one or two years; at the same time, according to local conditions, actively promote the production of oilseeds, aquatic products, fruits, and other non-staple foods, and broadly diversify economic activities.”
The conference held that the development of animal husbandry should proceed under the principle of combining public and private sectors, with emphasis on state-run operations.